Richard Brooks

Born Ruben Sax on May 18, 1912, he was the son of Russian Jews who immigrated to Philadelphia, PA. Journalism became his focus as a student at Temple University. Brooks worked first as a sports reporter for newspapers in New York and Atlantic City, where he met and befriended Samuel Fuller, another writer who would later turn to directing in the 1950s. Radio became his next medium, and he worked as a staff writer for the NBC network before trying his hand at directing for stage at the Mill Pond Theatre in New York. In the 1940s, he began writing novels, as well as screenplays for various low-budget genre films, including the delirious costume epic "Cobra Woman" (1944) with Maria Montez. His ... Continue Bio >>